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38104

	registered interest
	date	11/02/2014
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people deported by the Border Agency since May 2010 have subsequently been convicted of a criminal offence in the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Delyn
	tabling member printed	Mr David Hanson
	uin	187705
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>This information is not held centrally and would only be available at <br>disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire question first answered 10/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire
	tabling member	533 label Biography information for David Hanson

38302

	registered interest
	date	11/02/2014
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to investigate the English language test results of students who completed English language tests organised by ETS in each of the last three years.
	tabling member constituency	Delyn
	tabling member printed	Mr David Hanson
	uin	187807
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>The Home Office has suspended acceptance of all ETS tests taken and used in the <br>UK whist the scope of the issue is ascertained and to determine the number of people who <br>have taken a test and been involved in fraud. We have specialist teams in place <br>to undertake this analysis. <br><br>We are looking at all current and past applications. Anyone who is found to <br>have used or is currently trying to use evidence that they obtained dishonestly <br>can expect to have their leave curtailed and be removed from the UK or have any <br>outstanding application refused and leave the UK. We will also seek criminal <br>prosecution where appropriate and use all of the measures that we have <br>available. <br><br>Our reforms have curbed abuse by closing bogus colleges, making the application <br>process more rigorous and imposing more rules on colleges to improve course <br>quality. However, as the recent BBC Panorama programme highlighted, much more <br>needs to be done. <br>The Government will take all necessary steps, but our approach also requires <br>the education sector, particularly private or further education colleges and <br>those providing secure English language testing, to take on their <br>responsibility to tackle abuse.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire question first answered 10/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire
	tabling member	533 label Biography information for David Hanson

34100

	registered interest
	date	21/01/2014
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's Costing and Cost Management Strategy.
	tabling member constituency	Mid Sussex
	tabling member printed	Nicholas Soames
	uin	184212
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/05/2014 answer text <p>Costing and Cost Management Strategy is an internal Ministry of Defence document and is not for external publication.</p> answering member constituency Rayleigh and Wickford answering member printed Mr Mark Francois question first answered 01/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1444 label Biography information for Mr Mark Francois
	tabling member	116 label Biography information for Lord Soames of Fletching

32172

	registered interest
	date	09/01/2014
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion and value of his Department's contracts have been let (a) under the restricted procedure, (b) by the open procedure, (c) via framework agreements and (d) via a tendering process involving the use of a pre-qualification questionnaire in each of the last three years.
	tabling member constituency	Nottingham East
	tabling member printed	Chris Leslie
	uin	182696
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2014 answer text <p>Since January 2011, central government departments have been required to publish on Contracts Finder information on the tenders issued and contracts they award with a value over £10,000 (excluding VAT) (www.gov.uk/contractsfinder).</p><p> </p><p>Public Procurement Regulations require that prescribed procurement procedures are used when procurements exceed the EU contract threshold values. This legal framework helps to ensure that public procurement is conducted in a fair and open manner both within the UK and across the EU.</p><p> </p><p>Less than two percent of all contracts were let under the restricted procedure in each of the last three years.</p><p> </p><p>In 2010/11 there was one contract let under the restricted procedure. This was for actuarial support to the independent commission on Equitable Life Payments that was set up by this government to recommend how best to fairly allocate funds provided for the Equitable Life Payments Scheme (ELPS) and had a contract value of £1million.</p><p> </p><p>In 2011/12 there were two contracts let under the restricted procedure. They were (i) Corporate Financial Advice framework contract (estimated contract value of £5 million over the 2 years but no guaranteed spend)and (ii) a contract for actuarial support for (ELPS) in making fair and transparent payments to Equitable Life policyholders who suffered financial losses as a result of Government maladministration which occurred in the regulation of Equitable Life. The contract value was £5.4 million.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The information requested for the proportion and value of HM Treasury contracts that have been let via framework agreements and where a tendering process involving the use of a pre-qualification questionnaire in each of the last three years is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom question first answered 07/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
	tabling member	422 label Biography information for Mr Chris Leslie

33137

	registered interest
	date	15/01/2014
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) laundering plants and (b) millions of litres of fuel were seized in the UK by HM Revenue and Customs in each of the last 10 years.
	tabling member constituency	East Antrim
	tabling member printed	Sammy Wilson
	uin	183466
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/05/2014 answer text <p>Figures are only available for the years 2010-11 and onwards. The number of laundering plants and millions of litres of fuel seized in those years was as follows.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Laundering Plants</p></td><td><p>Fuel (millions litres)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010-11</p></td><td><p>23 (20 NI 3 GB)</p></td><td><p>2.74</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011-12</p></td><td><p>29 (NI figure only)</p></td><td><p>2.44</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012-13 to Dec 13</p></td><td><p>26 (22 NI 4 GB)</p></td><td><p>2.63</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>HMRC fights fraud on a wide range of fronts, from special units performing thousands of roadside checks to raiding laundering plants. HMRC has also recently concluded the evaluation of a possible new marker for rebated fuel, which will make it harder to launder marked fuel and sell it at a profit.</p><p> </p><p>HMRC uses several avenues to tackle fraud: criminal prosecution, civil action (such as seizing fuel or pumps), civil penalties and strong regulatory controls.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Loughborough answering member printed Nicky Morgan question first answered 06/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4027 label Biography information for Baroness Morgan of Cotes
	tabling member	1593 label Biography information for Sammy Wilson

33825

	registered interest
	date	20/01/2014
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many employers participated in the regional employer National Insurance contributions holiday in each region.
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff South and Penarth
	tabling member printed	Stephen Doughty
	uin	184094
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2014 answer text <p>This Government is committed to helping UK businesses grow and create jobs. The NICs holiday was a temporary, targeted scheme to help start ups take on new staff within their first year of trading. Although take up was lower than expected, the holiday benefitted over 26,000 businesses and supported over 90,000 jobs.</p><p> </p><p>Building on the lessons learnt from the holiday, we are taking action to reduce the employer NICs burden on small businesses and have created the new Employment Allowance which is simple to administer, permanent and available to all business and charities in the UK, this is reducing their employer NICs bill by up to £2,000 each year. As a result, 450,000 employers will pay no NICs at all in 2014-15.</p><p> </p><p>According to the latest available figures the break down of employers that applied for the National Insurance Holiday by region, throughout the scheme is as follows:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Region</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Northern Ireland</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>1265</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Scotland</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>3975</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Wales</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>1695</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>East Midlands</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2645</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>North East</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>1840</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>North West</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>4840</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>South West</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>3975</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>West Midlands</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>3100</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Yorks</strong><strong>. And Humber</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>3265</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>26600</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The NICs Holiday attracted around 26,600 applicants over a three year period. Further statistical information on the scheme is available on a factsheet at: <a href="http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/nics-hol.htm" target="_blank">http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/nics-hol.htm</a>. The factsheet only covers periods from the start of the scheme to December 2012.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke question first answered 13/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
	tabling member	4264 label Biography information for Stephen Doughty

36720

	registered interest
	date	04/02/2014
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of (a) permanent, (b) temporary and (c) contract staff in his Department as paid the living wage or above.
	tabling member constituency	Bradford East
	tabling member printed	Mr David Ward
	uin	186697
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2014 answer text <p>100% of permanent and temporary staff at HM Treasury are paid the Living Wage or above.</p><p> </p><p>HM Treasury fully complies with EU procurement directives and awards contracts on the basis of the best value for money for the taxpayer. Nevertheless, we have encouraged contractors to commit to paying a living wage and expect all employers to pay at least the national minimum wage.</p><p> </p><p>The Government supports businesses that choose to pay the Living Wage however the Government's main policy on wages is the National Minimum Wage, which has continued to protect the relative wages of the low paid. This is independently set by the Low Pay Commission at a level that maximises their wages without reducing employment prospect. It is for workers and employers to decide the level of wages above the minimum wage based on current circumstances. This includes the Government as a procurer and an employer. Over 95%, around 20 million employees earn above the minimum wage and the majority of public sector workers currently earn above the Living Wage.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom question first answered 07/05/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
	tabling member	3923 label Biography information for Mr David Ward

37341

	registered interest
	date	06/02/2014
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the additional revenue secured since 2010 as a result of changes to the IR35 tax regulations affecting the self-employed.
	tabling member constituency	Hertford and Stortford
	tabling member printed	Mr Mark Prisk
	uin	187119
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/04/2014 answer text <p>The intermediaries' legislation, known as IR35, does not apply to the self-employed, rather it applies to those providing their services through an intermediary (normally a limited company) who if it were not for the intermediary would otherwise be considered an employee of the client. IR35 ensures that under such circumstances broadly the same tax and National Insurance contributions are paid as if the individual were directly employed.</p><p> </p><p>A very minor change to the IR35 legislation was made in 2010 in consequence of the Corporation Taxes Act 2010.</p><p> </p><p>HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have currently four specialist compliance teams which undertake investigations of intermediaries (commonly called personal service companies) operating across all sectors where potential non-compliance with IR35 is suspected. These teams form part of a restructuring of HMRC's administration of IR35 following recommendations in March 2011 by the Office of Tax Simplification. Revenue secured under IR35 from this direct compliance activity between 6 April 2010 and 5 April 2013 is £2.519m. Figures for 2013/14 are not currently available.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke question first answered 09/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
	tabling member	1424 label Biography information for Mr Mark Prisk

36515

	registered interest
	date	03/02/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are currently awaiting work capability assessments.
	tabling member constituency	Stretford and Urmston
	tabling member printed	Kate Green
	uin	186209
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/03/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>In May 2010 there were 225,000 cases with Atos Health care and as of 28 February 2014 there were around 766,000 outstanding cases awaiting Work Capability Assessments being completed. This figure does not include cases yet to be referred to Atos or cases referred to Atos but where the claimant has yet to return the claimant questionnaire.</p><p> </p><p>This includes (a) around 371,000 new claimants of Employment and Support Allowance who should be receiving the assessment rate of the benefit; (b) around 293,000 existing recipients of Employment and Support Allowance awaiting a review; and (c) around 102,000 existing Incapacity Benefit recipients awaiting reassessment.</p><p> </p><p>This figure is based on operational management information received from Atos Healthcare and is rounded to the nearest thousand.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning question first answered 27/03/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
	tabling member	4120 label Biography information for Kate Green

36518

	registered interest
	date	03/02/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name
	answering dept sort name
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time for applicants for employment and support allowance is between submission of the ESA50 form and the date of the work capability assessment.
	tabling member constituency	Stretford and Urmston
	tabling member printed	Kate Green
	uin	186212
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/03/2014 answer text <p /> <p>The average time from submission of an ESA50 to the completion of a face-to-face Work Capability Assessment (for both Employment and Support Allowance and Incapacity Benefit Reassessment), for the period from February 2013 to January 2014, was 64 working days</p> answering member constituency Hemel Hempstead answering member printed Mike Penning question first answered 27/03/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1528 label Biography information for Sir Mike Penning
	tabling member	4120 label Biography information for Kate Green